Press Play with Madeleine Brand: California case: free speech v. abortion rightsCrisis pregnancy centers are generally run by pro-life groups that aim to convince pregnant women not to get abortions. A California law requires that employees tell their clients that the state offers free and low-cost abortions and other family planning services. Now a group of these centers is arguing that the law violates their freedom of speech.

UnFictionalUnbelievably true stories of chance encounters that changed the world. A pair of mail-order shoes that led to the film The Outsiders. A secret road to a California paradise. The day LA and smog first met. Stories that will stick in your head like a memory. It’s UnFictional, hosted by Bob Carlson.

The DocumentThe Document is a new kind of mash-up between documentaries and radio. It goes beyond clips and interviews, mining great stories from the raw footage of documentaries present, past and in-progress. A new episode is available every other Wednesday on iTunes and wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

To the PointA weekly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.

Can California Afford to Build High-Speed Rail?

California’s high-speed rail project threatens California’s financial future, according to a high-powered review board, which recommends that it be delayed. Will the report itself make it harder to raise needed money? Has California lost the vision required to maintain its worldwide technological leadership?

FROM THIS EPISODE

California’s high-speed rail project threatens California’s financial future, according to a high-powered review board, which recommends that it be delayed. Will the report itself make it harder to raise needed money? Has California lost the vision required to maintain its worldwide technological leadership?

Another bid to buy the Dodgers from Frank McCourt. LA developer Rick Caruso—who created the Grove in LA’s Fairfax District and Glendale’s Americana at Brand—has joined forces with Joe Torre, who managed the Dodgers after taking the Yankees to four World Serious championships.

California’s High Speed Rail project and the California High Speed Rail Peer Review Group were created by state voters in Proposition 1A. The Review Group is a high-powered panel that provides the legislature with progress reports on the multi-billion dollar system to link the state’s major cities. But its latest report is a dire warning: the project represents “an immense financial risk to California” because there are no “credible sources of adequate funding.” The Rail Authority says the report is flawed—and that just releasing it will “create a cloud” threatening the very support the Review Group finds lacking.

The Iowa caucuses failed to produce a clear winner, and it’s on to New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida before the end of this month. Rick Santorum came within 8 votes of 1st-place Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul was not far behind. But nobody got more than 25% of the vote. A dismal finish drove Michelle Bachman out of the race—but Rick Perry may still be a contender. Newt Gingrich says he’s not ready to quit.